Vilnius City Council approved the signing of a sister city agreement with Japan’s Nagoya this month.
According to Mayor Valdas Benkunskas, the agreement marks a new stage of partnership between Vilnius and Japan. Benkunskas said the cooperation builds on previous initiatives, including the establishment of a museum dedicated to Lithuania in Nagoya.
Former Mayor Remigijus Šimašius said Nagoya was chosen intentionally as it is the birthplace of Japanese diplomat Chiune Sugihara. Sugihara served as vice-consul in Kaunas at the start of World War Two and issued transit visas to Jews, helping save them from the Holocaust.
The sister city agreement is scheduled to be signed on Sept. 4, 2026, by Benkunskas and Ichiro Hirosawa.
Additionally, an exhibition dedicated to Lithuanian history, Lithuania – Songs Echoing in the Baltic Forests, will open at the Nagoya City Museum in the autumn of 2026.
